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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 15, 2016

Rather than apologize, Obama should vow to halve the U.S. nuclear stockpile

What remains is that egregious, gaudy number: America's 7,000 nuclear weapons, a number that countries without nuclear arms see as a slap in the face.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2016

For Iran and Hezbollah, a costly week in Syria

A rebel onslaught on the town of Khan Touman near Aleppo last week delivered one of the biggest battlefield setbacks yet to the coalition of foreign Shiite fighters waging war on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2016

James Baker: A Trump presidency would make world 'far less stable'

Former Secretary of State James Baker told a U.S. Senate hearing that Donald Trump's foreign policy proposals would make the world a less stable place on Thursday, just as the Republican presidential candidate met with party congressional leaders.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2016

Poll puts Clinton and Trump in dead heat; demographics and Rust Belt appeal to be key election factors

Republican Donald Trump pulled even with Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday, in a dramatic early sign that the Nov. 8 presidential election might be more hotly contested than first thought.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
May 11, 2016

Japan, America welcome Obama Hiroshima plans; Pearl Harbor visit mooted

Experts discuss how the U.S. president's visit may be viewed; meanwhile Suga denies any plans for Abe to visit Pearl Harbor.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2016

Duterte's South China Sea stance could shake up security ties with Japan, U.S.

Take a breath. Tough-talking Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte is unlikely to ride a jet ski to plant a flag on a China-held island, as he promised in a stump speech.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2016

Putin strikes a defiant note with concert in Syria

Vladimir Putin is signaling to the world that his forces have not really withdrawn from Syria and that any peace will be made on Russian terms.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 9, 2016

JCP uniting with other parties, tries to lose chains of Soviet-era stigma

The Japanese Communist Party is riding high.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 8, 2016

Media show Kumamoto was woefully ill-prepared for disabled evacuees

It was heartening to see newspapers focusing on the difficulties disabled people face when disaster strikes, but far less heartening to hear what they had to say about the facts on the ground in Kumamoto.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 8, 2016

Philippine fishermen favor strong president to end China's blockade of Scarborough Shoal

Beached on a grass bank overlooking the South China Sea, a 30-foot (9-meter) trawler named "Marvin" has sat idle since China's coast guard began driving away Philippine fishermen after a fierce standoff four years ago.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
May 7, 2016

Domestic violence: 'Abuse was all I knew'

There's an almost dispassionate matter-of-factness in the way Risa Tanaka describes how she was tortured by her husband.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 7, 2016

Paying for a can of peaches shows North Korean currency escaping regime's grip

For a country that trumpets the success of its economic system and the power of its local currency, it is very difficult as a foreigner in North Korea to buy anything with it.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2016

Britain's Labour suffers losses in regional election

Britain's Labour Party suffered losses on Friday in regional and local elections, especially in Scotland, but waited to see if it would, as expected, capture the big prize of London mayor.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Society
May 6, 2016

Expert sees Japan's high level of digital rights offset by public disinclined to curb Big Brother

Japan's restrictions on freedom of expression are growing but its sleepy public might not wake up before it's too late, a U.N. special rapporteur warns.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 4, 2016

Tough-talking Duterte keeps poll lead a week before Philippine elections

A tough-talking mayor running for the presidency of the Philippines has kept his double-digit lead five days before elections, despite allegations he had undeclared millions of pesos in a bank, the latest opinion poll has showed.
EDITORIALS
May 3, 2016

North Korea's political logic

The North Korean regime uses provocations to survive, and the upcoming party congress will applaud the leadership for being so 'shrewd.'
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2016

Clinton treads on Trump turf in ailing Appalachia, faces backlash over Obama's 'war on coal'

U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton talked to steel workers in the Appalachian region about their economic struggles on Monday, as she tried to win over blue-collar voters in a part of the country where support for Republican Donald Trump is strong.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2016

The Constitution, 69 years on

Despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to convince the public otherwise, there is no need at this time to revise the pacifist Constitution.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 2, 2016

Philippine front-runner open to talks with China on sea dispute

Rodrigo Duterte, the tough-talking Davao City mayor who is leading Philippine presidential polls, said he will hold bilateral talks with China to resolve a territorial dispute in the South China Sea if the current multilateral discussions do not bear fruit within two years.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2016

Trump says it's over for Cruz before Indiana, urges voters to back his 'mandate for genius'

Front-runner Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will have essentially sealed the Republican U.S. presidential nomination if he wins Tuesday's contest in Indiana, where he holds a big lead over chief rival Ted Cruz.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2016

Muslim is seen as favorite to run London after racially charged mayoral race

Sadiq Khan, a Muslim lawmaker from Britain's opposition Labour Party, is the strong favorite to win London's mayoral election Thursday after a bitter contest marked by religious tensions and accusations of racism.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 30, 2016

Hailing the benefits of raising a stink

In the 1980s, when I was living in northern Nagano Prefecture and hiking the mountains with members of the local Hunters Association, I was always making a lot of fuss about the depredation of ancient forests being instigated by the Forestry Agency — a branch of the national government that, at the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2016

Supreme Court's probe falls short

The top court's probe into 'special trials' held for leprosy patients accused of criminal offenses failed to address whether the defendants recieved justice.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2016

Sibling rivalry with lawmaker brother threatens Fujimori's bid ahead of Peru vote

A spat between presidential contender Keiko Fujimori and her younger brother over the future leadership of the political movement they inherited from their ex-president father could cost her key votes in Peru's tight June 5 run-off election.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2016

Half of Americans think presidential nominating system 'rigged': poll

More than half of American voters believe that the system U.S. political parties use to pick their candidates for the White House is "rigged" and more than two-thirds want to see the process changed, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Longform

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